exact
/ɪɡˈzakt
/ /ɛɡˈzakt/adjective
1Not approximated in any way; precise: the exact details were still being worked out...
- Astrophysicists can search for shadows by applying Newton's method, a mathematical way to refine approximate solutions into exact ones.
- Instead of using exact results, we approximated the chop zone probabilities by bounding the number of indel events, and the indel lengths per event.
- Generally, however, the difference between the exact and approximate solutions is not large, and overall trends are maintained.
1.1Accurate or correct in all details: an exact replica, two feet tall, was constructed...
- The apartment was extremely close to being an exact replica of the Scott's.
- I felt like a monkey in a cage to be correctly exact.
- The member did not read out correctly either the exact quote of what the Minister said or what is written here on the Order Paper.
Synonyms
precise, accurate, correct, faithful, close, true, veracious, literal, strict, unerring, faultless, errorless, error-free, perfect, impeccable;
explicit, detailed, minute, meticulous, thorough, blow-by-blow;
British inch-perfect
informal on the nail, on the mark, on the beam, on the button
British informal spot on, bang on
North American informal on the money
1.2(Of a person) accurate and careful about minor details: she was an exact, clever manager...
- I am saying that I am not a member of your French culture, but I will not be a member of American culture, here; I am an exact entity, exact person.
Synonyms
careful, meticulous, painstaking, precise, punctilious, conscientious, rigorous, scrupulous, exacting;
methodical, systematic, well organized, ordered, orderly, controlled
1.3(Of a subject of study) permitting precise measurements as a basis for rigorously testable theories: psychomedicine isn’t an exact science yet...
- But Mr Considine argued that tax forecasting was not an exact science and was subject to shifts in economic growth, which were difficult to predict.
- Share price valuation is not an exact science and is subject to assumptions that take into account many different parameters.
- How drugs react in a horse's system is not an exact science.
verb [with object]
1Demand and obtain (something) from someone: he exacted promises that another Watergate would never be allowed to happen...
- In a hierarchical conception of reality, the particular human being cannot defend his or her rights by demanding or exacting them independently of the whole.
- Recovery was permitted only in cases in which money was exacted under an unlawful demand by a public authority where the payment was made under a mistake of fact of under compulsion of some kind.
- The associated fighting exacted a terrible price of more than 3.5 million deaths, mainly from starvation and disease, according to aid agency estimates; the worst death toll since the Second World War.
Synonyms
demand, require, insist on, command, call for, impose, request, ask for, expect, look for;
extract, compel, force, wring, wrest, squeeze, obtain
archaic constrain
1.1Inflict (revenge) on someone: she exacts a cruel revenge for his rejection...
- Never take a slight personally, just sit back and wait until you can exact your cruel verbal revenge.
- His mind conjured the most amazing, most subtle and cruel plan to exact his revenge.
- Using as his model the ten plagues of the Pharaohs from the Old Testament, he exacts his cruel revenge on the nine medical people involved using rats, bats, locusts, and hail, among others.
Synonyms
inflict, impose, deliver, administer, issue, apply
Derivatives
exactable
/ /ɛɡˈzaktəb(ə)l / adjectiveexactitude
/ /ɛɡˈzaktɪtjuːd / noun ...- Luxuriant tone, neat and precise passage work, rhythmic exactitude, strict dynamic control and near-perfect balance were features that were ever-present not only here but throughout the entire programme.
- Her 58-year-old body has remained a remarkable instrument, capable of registering the minutest shifts and quivers of internal energy with extraordinary precision and exactitude.
- We need to point out how disgraceful their actions are and how they stain the honor of a man who died for his country in combat without ranting, but with precision and exactitude.
exactor
/ /ɛɡˈzaktə / noun ...- All it says is that you request my professional services as the exactor of your revenge - with the special introductory bonus of me giving you the ability to play that thing without being stoned by all in earshot.
- A missionary friend was recommended to be ‘a preacher of piety, not an exactor of tithes’, to guide people into good living rather than taking taxes for the benefit of the Church.
Origin
Late Middle English (as a verb): from Latin exact- 'completed, ascertained, enforced', from the verb exigere, from ex- 'thoroughly' + agere 'perform'. The adjective dates from the mid 16th century and reflects the Latin exactus 'precise'.